The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1887-03-31

season of rains, by making several trips int,
| the tierr0 c0licnte - the chief incentive bcin.
| to study the contrast (than which none can b.
greaterJ between rural living in our own coun
try anu this. One of these journeys took IL
away down into the state of Jalisco, to the city
| of Lapotlan, which OH the latest official map
now figures as La Cuidad Guzman.
1t hardly seems possible that this strange
pueblo and its people can belong to the Ameri
can continent, and that it lies only four thous
and miles from Belfast! The town is one OF
the oldest in Mexico, having been settled by the
Spaniards soon after the conquest. 1t has {
population of 10000, and being at an altitude OF
nearly five thousand feet, the climate is abso
utely perfect. Surely if Paradise is ultimately
to be located on this terrestrial sphere (as many
belicvc), it will be in some such zone as this
whether in Mexico, Central America, the Wcs,
Indies, the lIimalayas-half way up Il tropit
| mountain, where the skies are always blue and
the year an endless June. But before this land
of the ZapotlanianS can become an orthodox
paradise the present population will have to be
banishcd. The region is considered one of the
most dangerous i'll Mexico, MANY of the natives
being addicted to
PRIVATE BRIGANDAGE;
and whenever one of the frequent political re-
volts gives them opportunity, they sally forth
openly on an expedition of pundcr, in the
name of Liberty and with ''the eXigenccs OF
war; as an excuse. The Priesthood still re-
tain> more powerful hold here than elsewhere
i'll Mexico. but they cannot he very severe in
their dealings with criminals since the confess
siona must make them acquainted with numer-
Gus robberics and murders. lierctics assert
D,... 81,
cahootS with the briyands; but however that
may be, upon the wall or door of every house
in the most notorious quarters is pasted small
pink placard setting forth the fact in Spanish
print that the residents thereof are under the
especial protection of San Jose. Santa Guadl-
lupe, or some other patron saint.
All the road>ides leading to Zapotlan are
lined with wooden crosses, each rude memorial
surrounded by its heap of stones, every pebble
dcnoting IL praycr-thus proving that the pous
creatures who assist the unwary traveller to a
sudden exit from this vale of tears are vet
obliginy enough to do all in their power to res
cue his unshriven soul from purgatory.
1t is an old Spanish proverb: 1.-The picture Of
Il battle is best seen at a distance"-and beyond
doubt the existence of so many highwaymen is
mainly due to the fact that their demands are
seldom resisted. The sight of masked bri-
gand, cantering up with cooked revolver and
the usual command caf0 m tiefra r'put your
face to the ground'') is liable to SO reduce the
courage of the bravest man that he prostrates
himself without loss of time and submits tame
~ to any indignity. Yet in nncty-ninc cases
out of Il hundred hardy resistance would be in
finitcly better, and if travellers would show Il
proper degree of spirit bri~andaye would soon
die out-for with all their huster these people
are arrant towards. Generally no further ILL
treatment is offered by the rascally ''knights
OF the road'' than robbery: but there have been
instances. not few, where not only the vie
m hnt int tool
but all his clothes as well and he was compelled
to resume his journey airily
ATrIRED IN A NEWSPAPER.
To this day it is best to travel in these parts
with considerable escort, and without much of
value to tempt cupidity. Yet one must be sure
to have few dollars about him, for if so llll-
wise as to be caught wholly without coin. he is
certain to be terribly beaten if not killed for his
impertinence in thus disappointing the gentle
men of the highway.
But they are may SiiNputica (very svmp;l-
thetic) in Zapotlan. and when hearing of way
side murder never fail TO remark, PoJrarito'
CUe desytrtcia.- .-''Pooi fellow, what a mis-
hap"
The monotonollS streets of the town are mar
row. straight and stony, the low walls of
crunbln% adobe overgrown with vines and
green with lichcnS, and the windows--all with
out glass-protccted by heavy wooden bars.
Its central plaza is rendered picturesque by
groups of fine cocoa-palms, whose feathery
tops. however, afford no shade in the glarin..
sunshine; and its adobe benches, scattered
about in the hot sand. are not inviting, being
overrun with scorpions. ccntipcdcs and liz
yards.
Near the plaza stands the ruins of il once fine
cathedral, which was destroyed by an earth
quake nearly eighty years ago. and 10 attempt
has ever been made to restore or remove it.
Zapotlan is chiefly noted for its several soap
factories Ga rare industry in McXco), and the
manufacture of p1tque and mefcdt in its neigh
boring maguey haciendas. Much sugar, mo-
la>>e> and og""1diente de cana (sugar-canc
RUM are also made in the vicinity. The eN-
ceedingly fertile soil of this section is only par
tally titled, and that by the most primitive
methods. - probably owing as much to native
lazincss as TO insecurity of life and property
and lack OF transportation for produce.
In this portion of Mexico the favoritc pas
time and only dissipation is
COCK-FIGHTING
which appears to be more aurng than bull
fighting as it affords wider scope for bet
ting-but even this advertisement is only i'll
dulged in on Sundays and Feasts of Obligation.
Strange to say, though Mexican ladies are iber-
al patrons of the plasd tie t0rrOS, OF bull-fight-
ing arena, and once graced every cockpit by
their presence and best clothes, they no longer
attend the latter. Therefore, since it would
never do for Betsey and to fly in the face of
established cOstunbre, however actuated by
the sterncst sense of journalistic duty - can
not give you an account, first hand, of the per-
fOrmanccs therein. But the cock pit, as one of
the established institutions of the country. must
by no means be overlooked or summed; and
we visited it by proxy, so to speak, through
the gentlemen of our party, who - so they AS
sured us-Went as martyrs to love Of knowl-
edge. urged by Il curiosity as disinterested as
that which might have lured stranger in an
cIcnt Rome to drop into the amphitheatre in the
1Il nf ~
what they learned, OH a lovely Sunday after
noon-when the bamy air of a tropical March
was like that of Northern midsummer and the
odor of roses and orange-towers filled the air.
There was no difficulty in finding the place,
for all male Zapotlan was moving thitherward
as soon as mass was concluded. A rude adobe
structure, whose mean walls were hardly
higher than {; mans head, served to screen
the performances from all except those whose
pure zeal for information led 20 the payment
of twenty-five cents to get inside. Passing 4
low doorway screened by dirty calico cur
tain, our American martyrs found themselves
within what seemed like diIapidated COW
shed which had been temporarily converted
into Il circus. Just inside the curtain-in a
rough chair scoopcd out of a block of solid
mahogany-sat an elderly Mexican, with Il
rusty mollstache and pack of small printed
cards. The latter being tickets of admission.
our martyrs exchanged their reales for some
of them, after which the Mexican stroked his
moustache and bowed profoundly with grac.
lo,ls ehtTen Nstedes, SenOrcs-the literal trans
lation of this open sesame being, "enter your.
selves, sirs."
The place was crowded with all classes of
ZAPoTLANIAN SOCIETY.
There was the well-to-do merchant and the
miserable pack-peddler, colonies with blazing
epaulets and half-naked private soldiers. doc
tors, lawyers, servants, dignified fathers of
families with ample waistcOats and bald heads.
callow youths in their teens and liberal
sprinkling of small boys-all boiling over with
maddening avidity for the sport
The benches of the primitive theater rise
one above another, forming square, within
which-on the moist clay floor, enclosed by Il
slight wooden barrier three feet highs the
fatal arena. In a nook to the right of the
calico curtain. all the deadly equipments of the
gladiators were laid out,-such rs the knives
to be fastened to the legs OF the roosters, II
fine-toothed saw for cutting the gatfs, etc.
While the lists were being arranged and the
armOrers busy lacing on the gives and weap pons
of the combatants, and many an ounce of prec-
ious metal was staked on the chances of life
and death, the pertinacious gladiators kept
Growing with all their might and i'm glossiest
feathers strolled saucily about the ring as far
as their hempen garters would permit.
1t is said that Zapotlanians are proverbial
for their economy in most affairs of life, never
spending medic, outside the cockpit if they
can possibly avoid it; but once inside this
charmed circle they are the most prodigal of
spendthrifts. The betting ran high and brisk
and gold pieces changed hands with dazzling
larly struck by sallow-faccd YOUTH who had
| ti,cr SIoaS nor EinvS-nOt On ,ouoG os o